When do you stop trying in a race?

Today was the second race that I have run in the last two weeks when I managed to get a bit despondent about my KM lap times.  Today it was the Welsh 5K Championships and an out and back course with the back bit into the wind.  Of course my KM times worsened by about 15-20 seconds into the wind and I thought I had blown it.  I kept going and to my surprise won a national bronze medal in my age group and beat a runner ranked much higher - only by 2 seconds but I still beat him.  So the obsession with lap times can be a hinderance.  Also it was clear that the lap times being announced by my watch were different to the final uploaded times and not as bad.  So the lessons learnt:

1. Do not treat the watch pace as gospel
2. Run the way you feel
3. Always push on (unless injured) even if you think it is a lost cause

My National Bronze Medal